Party time

Sophie will celebrate her third birthday in a few weeks. Sophie is fully aware that she's going to turn 3 rather soon. She's isn't so aware that we've been planning a party for her and 20 of her closest friends. She's really into surprise parties, so while we aren't explicitly planning a surprise party for her, she doesn't know that a fairly big affair is being planned for her. I am banking on the hope that the surprise element will count for at least part of the her gifts.

In theory, I shouldn't really have to plan for much since the place we are going is supposed to be doing much of this. However, I still have to order the cake, take them the pic I want on the cake, make sure it's done on time as well as make sure there are enough balloons (v. important) and I think I have to do gift bags or something for all the kids that attend. At the same time, I have to remind parents *not* to bring gifts so that those who do follow the rules don't feel bad when they see other people bringing gifts. This process has taught me that I do not want to ever be a party planner for children. I think I'd rather make a hundred peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before doing this again.

So we chalk this year up to a learning experience.

For number four, we're going for an experiential birthday. Sophie can pick out where she wants to go for a weekend within a six hour drive of our house. Water parks, zoos, children's museums are all possibilities. Alternatively, if airline tickets drop a bit, a 4-day trip somewhere works fine too. Xcaret, anybody?